A woman resembling the female character from the cover of Zunar's new cartoon collection "Twit-Twit, Cin Cin” appeared at his book launch in Penang today.

She wore a glittering blue dress, complete with an elaborate wig and crown emblazoned with the words “FLOM”. She was also carrying a replica Birkin handbag, and showed off an oversized faux-diamond ring on one of her fingers.

Although the woman, Karen Goh, was too slim to accurately resemble "FLOM", she had the crowd in stitches with her role as the master of ceremonies for the book launch, which was held at the Black Kettle cafe on Beach Street.

Zunar, whose real name is Zulklifee SM Ulhaque, often draws the aforesaid figure in his cartoons to lampoon Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor.

Unlike previous occasions, the two-hour event concluded peacefully without police intervention or interruption from pro-Najib supporters.

"Several police were present but they were here to protect me," Zunar said, when met at the event today.

It is learnt that the plainclothes officers were around to prevent a repeat of the incident in Komtar last November when Zunar was attacked by several Penang Umno members.

Zunar’s cartoon exhibits were subsequently seized by the police, forcing him to cancel several events in Penang, including a book launch.

He was eventually arrested for the 10th time under the Sedition Act 1948.

Increasing book prices

Zunar sold his books at the event today, although he had also prepared photocopies of the "Twit-Twit, Cin Cin" front cover, in case the police decided to confiscate his books again.

He took the precaution as more than 1,300 of his books had been seized by plainclothes police last December.

During his presentation, Zunar explained that the two characters in his new book, Twit-Twit and Cin Cin, symbolised the abuse of power and wastage of public funds respectively.

Gerakbudaya Penang bookshop owner Ismail Gareth Richards also gave a presentation on the global cartooning scene, showing an interesting collection of political cartoons similar to those created by Zunar.

Zunar's new book consists of 186 cartoons on Malaysia’s controversial sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and local corruption.

He dryly observed that his books used to cost RM20 but had since “shot up in price” to RM26.

When an audience member joked that the price increase was due to the goods and services tax, Zunar replied that the price of his new book had been adjusted to match the RM 2.6 billion which allegedly entered the prime minister's bank accounts.

"My books will go up in price according to the amount of corruption in the country," Zunar quipped.